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Berkeley authorizes GLWA member‑partner legal agreement to pursue 3M and DuPont PFAS settlement claims
Summary
The council approved a member‑partner contract with GLWA and national counsel to enable Berkeley to pursue claims under the 3M and DuPont PFAS public drinking‑water settlements; testing of GLWA source water is required and any recovery is currently unknown.
The Berkeley City Council on June 15 approved a member‑partner legal‑services agreement that allows the city to participate in claims arising from a national settlement with 3M and DuPont over PFAS contamination.
City staff said the Great Lakes Water Authority (GLWA) and national counsel (identified in the materials as Stag Louisa) are facilitating claims by wholesale customers. Miss Vanvle, who introduced the item, said GLWA decided not to file claims directly and has opened the opportunity for tier‑2 customers such as Berkeley to make claims, but that source‑water testing of GLWA's supplies is a required first step.
Miss Vanvle described the legal arrangement as contingency based: if Berkeley recovers funds the typical attorney fee would be one‑third of the recovery, with 8% of that fee withheld for court settlement administration and the remaining fee split so that RSJA (the city's local counsel) would receive 25% of the remainder. If no recovery is made, the city would not pay attorney fees.
Council members pressed for additional details about GLWA's decision and timing. Council member Hennand asked whether GLWA’s action was deliberate or an oversight and requested follow‑up on oversight steps; Miss Vanvle said she would investigate. Council member Black asked whether any Berkeley residents had active cases; staff said none were known. Council members also asked for periodic updates on testing and claims work.
Staff emphasized two factual limits: the magnitude of any recovery for Berkeley is unknown, and by participating the city would be waiving future claims against the settling defendants related to those matters as described in the settlement documents. Miss Vanvle said if funds are received they would be unrestricted and usable for any public purpose, not limited to the water fund.
The council voted to approve the member‑partner legal services agreement as presented. Next steps noted by staff include arranging required source‑water testing beginning July 1 and working with national and local counsel on claims paperwork.
The council approved the item on a roll call vote during the June 15 meeting.
